Genevieve Nnaji
Genevieve Nnaji says the language she explored in her movie, ‘Lionheart’, represents the way her people speak as Nigerians.
This was her response to reports that the Oscars Award Academy disqualified her movie from the Oscar race in the best international feature film category.
News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Academy dropped the Genevieve Nnaji directorial debut for having too much English dialogue.
The Academy’s criteria for best international feature film category states that it awards films made outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue.
This drop by the Oscars has reduced the number of films competing for the award to 92 from what had been a record of 93 entries.
‘Lionheart’ in which Nnaji also stars is partially in the Igbo language. But, it is mostly in English, which seemed to violate the category’s criterion.
The Academy announced the disqualification of ‘Lionheart’ to voters in the category in an email on Monday.
Following the announcement, several film enthusiasts went on social media to share their thoughts, including award-winning director Ava DuVernay.
DuVernay, who empathised with Nigeria, wrote, “To @TheAcademy, You disqualified Nigeria’s first-ever submission for best international feature because it’s in English.
“But English is the official language of Nigeria. Are you barring this country from ever competing for an Oscar in its official language?”
Responding to DuVernay, Genevieve Nnaji, who directed ‘Lionheart’, said, “Thank you so much @ava. I am the director of Lionheart. This movie represents the way we speak as Nigerians.
“This includes English which acts as a bridge between the 500+ languages spoken in our country; thereby making us #OneNigeria. @TheAcademy.”